Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The easiest thing in the world is to dismiss somebody’s music just because they are singing or performing in a different language, it is something that at times and no matter whom you are that we are guilty of. So much easier to fall into the trap of playing a track that you are so comfortable with that every note and nuance has been heard a million times before. Occasionally a song, a group or even an album might cross over into the subconscious and gets mass approval; however it seems to be as rare as hen’s teeth unless you live in a country where the population are so adept at understanding more than their own mother tongue.

Des Liminanas latest release of Costa Blanca has all the hall marks of being one of those albums in which enjoyment follows, even if your understanding of the French language stops at having asked the way to toilet and where can I find a shop in which sells the local fruit. The music sits somewhere that wouldn’t be out of place in black and white French detective serial in which the hero smokes endless cigarettes whilst hiding permanently in the shadows and one of those classy perfume adverts that bombarded the senses at this time of year, it is a mix that somehow captures the imagination and revels in the submission of pre-conceived ideas.

French Heavy Metal has already been of such a high standard during 2013 that it should come as no surprise that its pop/folk scene should follow the same route. The diversity of the music is only topped by the intrigue that peeks out from under the cover of the comfortable. By not having at least a listen for a while, we perhaps fall into that comfortable slot too often. The inability to at least understand another viewpoint goes awry.

Tracks such as My Black Sabbath, Cold Was The Ground, Barrio Chino, La Melancolie and Liverpool show that there is something to take from having the bravery to peek your love of music, no matter the language it is written in, out just a little more.

A flurry of French fancy, Des Liminanas have made something quite adept at crossing through even the most unmoveable of minds.

Ian D. Hall